I’m sure more than a few of you have seen news regarding the crossover between Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem. The concept is exciting and the characters seem likeable (and it’s always nice to see familiar faces from Fire Emblem), but if there’s one thing I’ve decided that not even the gameplay and writing can explain well enough, it’s the costumes.
Here is Shiida/Caeda, best known as Marth’s comrade and wife as well as an accomplished pegasus knight:
And here is her design for SMT x FE:
My biggest questions are why she has random cutouts on her outfit (especially on her crotch) and why her clothes have to be so tight they effectively create boobsocks.
She is the Mirage Partner to Tsubasa Oribe:
It’s worth nothing that her school clothes are fine but her combat wardrobe is kinda baffling:
And, according to a post on serenesnet (a Fire Emblem forum), there’s also a scene where she apparently strips down to her skivvies in the middle of the street:
Other characters include Eleonora Yumizuru, an archer whose clothing would actually be pretty cool if she wasn’t also part of that weird bare thighs clothing trope:
Kiria Kurono, a famous idol who shows her midriff and some amount of cleavage in almost all of her outfits:
Her name refers to the mage class and possibly dark magic – funny how sorceresses associated with dark magic almost always get skimpy clothes! Some speculation ties her to characters like Lyn, a swordswoman from the seventh Fire Emblem game, and Soren, a wind mage from the ninth and tenth games.
Aversa, a character from the thirteenth Fire Emblem game, returns as an enemy mirage. As one of the most sexualised characters in Awakening, her design combines her class as a dark flier with her constantly exposed boobies:
I think it’s an odd choice to have her return as a villain given that it’s possible for her to become redeemed of her actions in Awakening; by redeemed I mean that you can unlock her as a playable character and you learn that the antagonist brainwashed her into being loyal to him and massacring her village to keep anyone from learning this – she joins Chrom’s army to atone. I hope they haven’t retconned that aspect of her character just to keep her as a “dark femme fatale” (again).
The male characters of the game, Toma Akagi (whose Mirage Partner is Cain) and Itsuki Aoi (whose Mirage Partner is Chrom), of course get much better costumes; Toma looks every inch a knight and Itsuki looks very princely and aristocratic, complete with a fancy rapier and cravat.
I always knew that Fire Emblem and Shin Megami almost always have iffy moments in its wardrobe choices for women (with a few games wonderfully ignoring that standard), but this is odd for both series, even if a major part of the game is music and the idol industry. That fact may justify the idol segments and costumes, but not the combat clothing.
I hope this doesn’t mean that the game will turn out to be a dud, because this is one many fans have been anticipating for a while. However, I can’t say the same for all fans, since some of them have taken issue with more than just the costumes:
(Disclaimer for those of you already typing angry comments: We are aware that Hayao Miyazaki never actually said “Anime was a mistake.”, that doesn’t change that so much of the industry makes it believable he would say it)
Sadly this is pretty much what happens when Creepy Marketing Guys are left unsupervised and decide that the visual aspect of the game is the most important part (it’s the easiest to use in advertising) and so the “sex sells” angle is responsible for the success of the previous games.
Ironically, this tends to create more problems because as the Dead or Alive community has noticed – it makes it really hard to convince anyone that there’s actually anything else to the games.
I’m sure more than a few of you have seen news regarding the crossover between Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem. The concept is exciting and the characters seem likeable (and it’s always nice to see familiar faces from Fire Emblem), but if there’s one thing I’ve decided that not even the gameplay and writing can explain well enough, it’s the costumes.
Here is Shiida/Caeda, best known as Marth’s comrade and wife as well as an accomplished pegasus knight:
And here is her design for SMT x FE:
My biggest questions are why she has random cutouts on her outfit (especially on her crotch) and why her clothes have to be so tight they effectively create boobsocks.
She is the Mirage Partner to Tsubasa Oribe:
It’s worth nothing that her school clothes are fine but her combat wardrobe is kinda baffling:
And, according to a post on serenesnet (a Fire Emblem forum), there’s also a scene where she apparently strips down to her skivvies in the middle of the street:
Other characters include Eleonora Yumizuru, an archer whose clothing would actually be pretty cool if she wasn’t also part of that weird bare thighs clothing trope:
Kiria Kurono, a famous idol who shows her midriff and some amount of cleavage in almost all of her outfits:
Her name refers to the mage class and possibly dark magic – funny how sorceresses associated with dark magic almost always get skimpy clothes! Some speculation ties her to characters like Lyn, a swordswoman from the seventh Fire Emblem game, and Soren, a wind mage from the ninth and tenth games.
Aversa, a character from the thirteenth Fire Emblem game, returns as an enemy mirage. As one of the most sexualised characters in Awakening, her design combines her class as a dark flier with her constantly exposed boobies:
I think it’s an odd choice to have her return as a villain given that it’s possible for her to become redeemed of her actions in Awakening; by redeemed I mean that you can unlock her as a playable character and you learn that the antagonist brainwashed her into being loyal to him and massacring her village to keep anyone from learning this – she joins Chrom’s army to atone. I hope they haven’t retconned that aspect of her character just to keep her as a “dark femme fatale” (again).
The male characters of the game, Toma Akagi (whose Mirage Partner is Cain) and Itsuki Aoi (whose Mirage Partner is Chrom), of course get much better costumes; Toma looks every inch a knight and Itsuki looks very princely and aristocratic, complete with a fancy rapier and cravat.
I always knew that Fire Emblem and Shin Megami almost always have iffy moments in its wardrobe choices for women (with a few games wonderfully ignoring that standard), but this is odd for both series, even if a major part of the game is music and the idol industry. That fact may justify the idol segments and costumes, but not the combat clothing.
I hope this doesn’t mean that the game will turn out to be a dud, because this is one many fans have been anticipating for a while. However, I can’t say the same for all fans, since some of them have taken issue with more than just the costumes:
(Disclaimer for those of you already typing angry comments: We are aware that Hayao Miyazaki never actually said “Anime was a mistake.”, that doesn’t change that so much of the industry makes it believable he would say it)
Sadly this is pretty much what happens when Creepy Marketing Guys are left unsupervised and decide that the visual aspect of the game is the most important part (it’s the easiest to use in advertising) and so the “sex sells” angle is responsible for the success of the previous games.
Ironically, this tends to create more problems because as the Dead or Alive community has noticed – it makes it really hard to convince anyone that there’s actually anything else to the games.
A Jimquisition episode I was wondering whether or not reference here for some time now.
Will Jim’s search for a female video game protagonist who doesn’t fit the narrow criteria of gendered double standards be fruitful?
~Ozzie
I feel the “she must be pretty” is the first step that leads to the slippery slope of over-sexualization and ends with polished gold battle thongs. It skews priorities from word go and immediately wipes out countless options before they can even be considered.
tfw marvel wont stop hiring writers who casually slip in their shitty misogynist views to treat my fave like a joke : )
oh and also i like how they feel as if dust should be their mouthpiece for slut shaming because obviously she’s a muslim and she must be super critical and interject her views on emma and all that shit and by like i mean hate ahahahha fuck awf with all of this
I feel like the writer has a fundamental misunderstanding of Dust’s character, because she would never say something like that to Emma, or any woman. Sooraya is one of the most respectful X-Men, and she is not judgemental. This is grossly out of character.
I picked up this issue, hit the “let’s insult Emma for fun, because that’s how we show we’re awesome these days” segment, and noped right the fuck on out of there.
tfw marvel wont stop hiring writers who casually slip in their shitty misogynist views to treat my fave like a joke : )
oh and also i like how they feel as if dust should be their mouthpiece for slut shaming because obviously she’s a muslim and she must be super critical and interject her views on emma and all that shit and by like i mean hate ahahahha fuck awf with all of this
I feel like the writer has a fundamental misunderstanding of Dust’s character, because she would never say something like that to Emma, or any woman. Sooraya is one of the most respectful X-Men, and she is not judgemental. This is grossly out of character.
I picked up this issue, hit the “let’s insult Emma for fun, because that’s how we show we’re awesome these days” segment, and noped right the fuck on out of there.
I keep seeing waaay too much unnecessary fanservice slipped into otherwise regular fanart of female characters compared to what male characters get, so I strongly feel this post is necessary.
ways to subtly (or not so) sexualise (cisgender) male characters in your day to day fanart:
tight pants
tight shirts
tight clothes in general
doesn’t even have to be different to their canon outfits, just make that shit tight
put holes in his clothes!
they can be tears, or they can look like they’re meant to be there- call them improvements 🙂
and make the clothes transparent!
even better, make them wet; transparent and clingy 😉
put him in a submissive/passive pose
you know, position the camera above him
and make sure his ass is pointed even just a little bit at the camera
just don’t make him look like he has any power over the viewer
is there anything in or vaguely related to canon that has tentacles or something that resembles them? try incorporating that into the fanart!
is there any conceivable excuse to have this character covered in sticky, white liquid? not semen, but…
apparently general anatomy isn’t too important if you can draw really detailed, anatomically correct feet
come to think of it, it’s generally socially accepted for cis men to be shirtless in a lot of places. I’d definitely use that to my advantage if I were you
also, remember that trend of dudes not wearing belts so their undies were always visible? why not use that? hint: he doesn’t even have to be wearing undies!
composition is an important part of any artwork. use this to draw attention to the: groin, ass, feet?, nipples, mouth, whatever takes your fancy
make his facial expression lustrous. make him look like he wants the viewer to do unspeakable things to him
when you see a female character being unnecessarily sexualised in fanart, think about how you might do the same thing to a male character 🙂
notes:
most points listed above can also apply to character design for games, comics, films, etc.
Following yesterday’s Happy Friday sexy male warriors, those are some pretty damn good rules to follow in creating fanservice featuring male characters. Just remember everyone: “things to be careful of” addendum is essential part of the advice.
